Good location in historic centre

BaC has a great location in Stonetown, with everything worth seeing in walking distance.Rooms are vast and with a local flavour.Surprisingly quiet at night.We ate in the restaurant which was good quality, albeit a bit pricey.

Management team helpful, offering sound advice in the face of riots outside of the historic centre.The highlight of our visit was enjoying a sundowner on the roof terrace of Africa House, watching the sun sink below the ocean as a dhow glided serenely past .

Beyt al Chai review

Lovely characterful hotel in a good spot - short walk to shops/seafront, etc. Staff generally very helpful. We asked about a sunset dhow trip and they called a guide to come to the hotel within five minutes who immediately organised this for us, then took us out to find an ATM (which he did at the second attempt, though we met some other tourists that had tried several with no success!) He also organised a city tour for the next day and then came back and met us and walked us to the meeting point for the dhow.

Restaurant food quite good for dinner, but service poor. Breakfast very poor. Took 40 minutes to serve two bowls of cereal and two omlettes. Never got the cookies and muffins we ordered. (There was only one other guest). Breakfast tray on last morning arrived five minutes before we were picked up and was stale bread and butter and very wet fruit so we had to wait until Dar to get breakfast.

Main problem was no water on first morning. We were told it would be back in 30 minutes, then another 10 minutes, etc. We asked for bottled water to at least wash and were given one bottle between us. Didn't seem to be any contingency or understanding that this was quite a major problem. Our toilet was quite unpleasant! Water did eventually come back on but too late to shower before our city tour. Not ideal in a very hot climate.

Beyt al Chai review

The Beyt al Chai proved to be to be a very nice hotel close to the sea front in Stonetown. The room was comfortable and air conditioned and nicely fournished , although I thought the bed was a bit too hard. The shower only provided cold or tepid water, but this was OK as the weather was hot and humid. There is a very comfortable lounge to relax in with some interesting books about Zanzibari history and art.

All the staff were very helpful and friendly, and there were even helpful masai security men just outside!

The restaurant is first class with delicious choices, primarily of fish and sea food. The included breakfast is served here and is also very good quality. A slight downside is that there is no seperate lunch menu but this is no problem on a short stay.

Stonetown is easily covered in a stay of one or two days as it is very compact. There is some interesting architecture and it is possible to observe fishermen at work on the seafront and get a flavour of local life.

Unfortunately we were plagued by people trying to sell us everything from CDs to carvings and scarves, and taxidrivers touting for business. Also many do not take no for an answer, and will follow you. It can be difficult to remain polite under these circumstances! It was probably worse for us , as it was low season with relatively few other tourists. Also I would recommend sticking to the larger souvenir shops where prices are displayed, or at least trying them first to know what to expect to pay, otherwise you will need very good bargaining skills and great patience to get a bargain!

Beyt al Chai review.

Very good location and enjoyed staying in this old tea house with its colourful furnishings and interesting old furniture and ornaments. We were warmly welcomed and given an upgraded room overlooking the square.

We had a good evening meal in the restaurant but left too early in the morning to sample their breakfast. However, the manageress was kind enough to leave fresh fruit and provide toast for us before we left at 5.00 am !

Charming Beyt al Chai

This is a charming, authentic guesthouse in a great setting near to the seafront, the Forodhani Gardens, the old city, and The Africa House.

On arrival we were delighted to be upgraded to the Sultan room and given a cold bottle of bubbly as they knew it was our 10th wedding anniversary. This was a lovely touch.

In the evening we ate at the Beyt al Chai restaurant and enjoyed a really great seafood dinner with a nice bottle of wine. We stayed here for two nights, which was a perfect amount of time to explore Stone Town.

Beyt al Chai review

The hotel is centrally located and has character. I found the rooms a little dark, and the facilities in the bathroom were a little old. The electrics in the bathroom seemed a little unsafe - the hairdryer provided seemed to spark when plugged in . Also the shower was hard to use as was handheld and we had no hot water. Aside from that the staff were very friendly and the restaurant was good.

We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.